Australia batter Travis Head believes that Virat Kohli is going to have his moments in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, set to begin on Friday (November 22 in Perth). Labelling the 36-year-old as a “world-class” operator, Travis Head said that his side needs to respect Virat Kohli‘s class, and understand there would be moments in the five-match series, where Virat Kohli is almost unstoppable at the crease.
Virat Kohli’s arrived on Australian shores last week, and the right-handed batter is feeling the heat, having scored just two Test centuries in the last five years. His form became a huge sticking point between India head coach Gautam Gambhir and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, with both of them trading barbs at each other.
Virat Kohli garner’s respect in Australia due to his performances on the Australian shores
In 2024, Virat Kohli averages just a little above 24 in the longest format of the game, and in his last ten innings, he has scored just one half-century. The upcoming series against Australia is potentially Virat Kohli’s last tour Down Under. Australia has always brought out the best out in Virat Kohli, as the former India captain has registered more than 1,300 runs in 13 Tests.
Virat Kohli’s build-up to the Test series against Australia has not been ideal. Virat Kohli was one of the underperformers in India’s 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand. The senior batter scored just 93 runs in the 3 Test matches that he played, which concerned fans and experts alike.
Virat Kohli has historically been a sensational performer against Australia and in fact has scored 1352 runs Down Under. He is the second-highest Indian run-scorer in Australia in Test cricket, only behind Sachin Tendulkar.
Australia batter Travis Head has hoped that Virat Kohli will not have too many great moments in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Speaking to the press on the sidelines of Australia’s practice session in Perth, Travis Head called Virat Kohli a world-class player and backed him to do well in this series.
Travis Head acknowledges hype around Virat Kohli ahead of BGT 2024-25
Australia batter Travis Head acknowledged the hype surrounding Virat Kohli ahead of the highly anticipated five-Test series against India, starting in Perth on November 22. Yet, the ace Indian batter enters the series on the back of a dismal three Tests against New Zealand at home.
Ever since Virat Kohli has landed in Australia, he has been covered on the front pages by popular Australian publications like The Sydney Morning Herald and the West Australian. The newspapers have showered him with monikers like ‘GOAT’ and ‘King Kohli’
Virat Kohli averaged under 16 in the series as India suffered an embarrassing 0-3 whitewash to surrender the top spot in the latest World Test Championship (WTC) standings. The 36-year-old has struggled in the red-ball format over the past five years, scoring only two centuries in 34 outings.
Talking to reporters in the build-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Head backed Kohli to have his share of great moments in the series but hoped Australia would restrict the damage he does over the five Tests.
“There’s not a series that you would play India and you not talk about Virat Kohli. No doubt that we’ll go through all the players and we’ve started this morning and just prepare the same way as we always do. We want to start well against him come the first morning, but he’s going to have his moments in the series and hopefully not too many of them,” said Head (via India Today).
He added:
“He’s a world class player and over 5 Tests at some stage he’s probably gonna play well, we understand that, we respect that, and, yeah, we just try our best to, to nullify that. We hope we’ll have some guys on our team that also have really good great moments over 5 Tests.”
Virat Kohli has historically produced his best in Tests Down Under, evidenced by a sensational average of 54.08 in 13 outings. However, he averages a sub-par 22.72 in six Tests this year.
Virat Kohli considers his 100 at Perth during 2018-19 as his best innings
Virat Kohli ranked his century at Perth in the 2018/19 tour of Australia as his best knock Down Under. The champion batter has scored six out of his 29 Test centuries in Australia with the 123 in Perth being the last one. With India ahead 1-0 in the four-Test series, Kohli was the lone-ranger with his brilliant century in India’s 146-run defeat.
“My best knock in Australia is definitely my hundred at Perth, 2018-19 series that we played. I thought that’s the toughest pitch that I’ve played on in Test cricket, it was great to have a hundred on that one,” said Kohli in a video shared by BCCI.
Despite the loss at Perth, India bounced back to win the series 2-1, as Kohli became the first Indian captain to win a Test series in Australia. With co incidentally the first Test beginning on 22nd November at Optus Stadium in Perth, additional responsibility will lie on Virat Kohli’s shoulders in the Perth Test given India do not have the services of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. While Sharma is on paternity leave, Shubman Gill has fractured his thumb, casting doubts over his presence in the first 2 Test matches of the series.